Edgar Award-winning author Mindy McGinnis delivers a riveting contemporary YA novel that examines rape culture through alternating perspectives. A stunning, unforgettable page-turner.Alex Craft knows how to kill someone. And she doesn’t feel bad about it.Three years ago, when her older sister, Anna, was murdered and the killer walked free, Alex uncaged the language she knows best—the language of … language she knows best—the language of violence.
While her own crime goes unpunished, Alex knows she can’t be trusted among other people. Not with Jack, the star athlete who wants to really know her but still feels guilty over the role he played the night Anna’s body was discovered. And not with Peekay, the preacher’s kid with a defiant streak who befriends Alex while they volunteer at an animal shelter. Not anyone.
As their senior year unfolds, Alex’s darker nature breaks out, setting these three teens on a collision course that will change their lives forever.
2017 Tayshas List Selection * YALSA Top 10 Best YA Fiction of 2017 * School Libray Journal Best of 2016 * Junior Library Guild Selection * The Globe and Mail Best Books of 2016 * Bustle’s Best Young Adult Books of 2016 * Mashable’s 8 Best YA Books of 2016 * Seventeen’s 10 Best YA Books of 2016 * CCBC Choices 2017 * 2018-2019 Louisiana Readers’ Choice Award Nominee * 2019 & 2020 Choose to Read Ohio Booklist
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Oh my God–this book! THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES has to be one of my favorite reads of all time. It’s raw, it’s compelling, parts of it were way outside my comfort zone, and it’s a story I can’t leave behind. I loved all the characters, including the secondary ones; I loved the powerful writing; I loved that there is so much darkness in the story, and yet so much light. This is a book I plan to re-read.
The Female of the Species, is not your normal YA. The main character, Alex Craft, is a killer, yet she’s not your typical sociopath or psychopath. Alex’s first victim was her sister’s killer and as such Alex is more of a morally gray vigilante. For such a dark character, she’s very easy to connect and empathize with. Alex has kept herself sequestered from society for society’s protection but things begin to change when she meets Jack, the athlete, and Peekay, the preacher’s kid and forms friendships for the first time in her life.
With her morally gray heroine, McGinnis deftly explores issues of violence, sexual aggression and sexual assault while still speaking to the softer, better side of humanity through characters like Peekay and Jack. I highly recommend this book for teens and adults alike. The themes to which it speaks are universal and conversations about violence against women are needed now more than ever.
Verdict: A thoroughly riveting read with loads of heart and an important message.
As we wrap up the year in reading and start making “best of” lists as long as our arms, I can’t help but feel this one should be getting so much more attention.
The Female of the species follows Alex Craft through her senior year of high school, three years after her sister was found murdered in the woods. Alex is not used to having friends, leaving the house, or doing much more than surviving in the house with her mom. When she meets Peekay through her senior project volunteering at an animal shelter, and Jack through school, she begins to see that there is more to her painfully small life, if she is willing to see it. But, there is also more to Alex than meets the eye.
I got some pretty serious Dexter vibes from this one, which I loved, and the writing was amazing. Definitely darker than you’d expect from a contemporary YA novel, The Female of the Species is not for the weak of heart, but it will most definitely stick with you long after you finish it!
The best part about this book, even though it can be shocking and gritty, is the girl power aspect of it. There are SO many young adult books with female main characters who have been victimized, but almost none where the girl seeks revenge. It’s very weird to want to root for someone to hurt someone else, unless you’re some kind of psycho I guess, but in this case you can definitely sympathize with the MC and why she’s so angry and vengeful. I recommend almost all of Mindy’s books. A Madness so Discreet, Heroine, and Not a Drop to Drink are probably my favorites.
This book had glowing reviews so when an ARC crossed my path, I made sure to keep it on my desk so no one else could steal it and read it in a few days. The pacing is phenomenal, the writing is vivid and cinematic, and it walks the fine line of violence and dark content gracefully, especially for a YA novel. The shifting perspectives are wonderful and they kept things fresh and interesting. The book kept reminding me of a film called Stoker, which deals with a similar female protagonist, and perhaps that comparison affected my overall satisfaction with the book.
I have two big issues with The Female of the Species. The first is Branley, who from the get-go is set up to be an unlikeable sexbot straight out of a 90s teen film. I get why this stereotype is a Thing, but for me it’s not interesting and kind of formulaic. Yes, Branley and Jack go way back and she gets a couple of moments of real humanity, but the rest of the time she’s a backbiting Barbie with little to offer. This kind of character always loses in the end, so right when she was introduced I knew how things would play out. I almost wished there were a few chapters from her perspective.
The second issue I have with this book is the ending, which I won’t spoil in this review. What I will say is that it feels wrong to punish the most empowered female character in this book, and it also felt like the tidiest, easiest ending rather than the most interesting.
I’m actually finding myself liking the style of Mindy McGinnis’ writing. She has a way of keeping her words simple while at the same time, make a huge impact.
This is the 2nd book I’ve read by her and I’ll be on the hunt for more.
The ending killed me, but this was such a good book! The characters were amazing. I loved them all. The story was really interesting too. This is the second book by Mindy that I’ve read and I’ve loved them both. I would definitely recommend this one!
Wow, this contemporary look at rape culture was difficult to read but it was really good.
Told from the POV of three characters: Alex, whose sister was tortured, raped and murdered, Jack a dude who is basically a penis with a guy attached and Claire, known as Peekay, a nickname short for Preacher’s Kid, who is struggling to find an identity outside of her dad’s job.
There are a few supporting characters but they are such stereotypes they don’t bear much mention.
Alex’s life is defined by violence and she metes out revenge cooly and without remorse but she is also wise beyond her years, doling out advice like, “Venting yourself in an emotional moment can be more than your socially constructed self can handle after the fact.”
Is she a murderer? Yep. Did I love her? Yep.
Amazing, amazing, amazing!
I just love this book.
*3.5
This book was a surprisingly honest look at the dark side of human nature. There was a lot of cursing, which is accurate from what I remember of being a teen (forbidden fruit is desirable and all that). ‘The Female of the Species’ takes a serious look at attempted rape and the effects it can have on the victims.
Alex Craft is not the typical teenage girl, and who can blame her after her sister’s brutal murder? But when she starts to work at the animal shelter with Claire, she begins to come out of the cocoon she has weaved around herself. Then she meets Jack, and she begins to have feelings for a boy, the same type of creature that raped and murdered her sister.
As Claire and Jack pull her into the ‘normal’ masses, Alex begins to worry about the darkness inside of her. She has done a terrible thing, and she does not regret it. As senior year goes on, Alex’s true self begins to peek through, and though she is protecting her friends with the darkness, she is afraid that it will come out again. Can Jack and Claire handle the truth about Alex Craft, or will they be unable to cope with her true nature?
This book is dark and not for the faint of heart. There are several attempted rapes, and Alex defends her friends with a lot of violence. The ending is hard to swallow, but it’s appropriate. I recommend this for older teens and up, and there is A LOT of foul language. But I enjoyed this book and the way it showed the horrible truth of the consequences of rape.
Reading this was a waste of my time. McGinnis writes all the men like horn dogs who will literally stick their dick into anything that moves. All of the men are obsessed with boobs. The girls in the book don’t ever call the men out on their blatant and gross sexist behavior. So I don’t really get how this helps open up a conversation for rape culture when McGinnis just seems to contribute to it. The men can get away with all their shitty behavior and she never calls them out on it. I did not find Alex and Jacks relationship believable at all. Branley deserves to be treated way better. I hate the way the author treated her. Jack and park and all the guys in this story are complete wastes of space. Everything was too over the top for me. McGinnis wrote it like people who are obviously already scummy are the only ones who will rape someone. I wish she had made it one of the classmates. Because 90% of the time, it’s someone you know. I had too many problems with this book to put here. But it’s honestly a waste of time to read it. Because McGinnis just reaffirms that boys will be boys and no one will call them out on it.
3.5/5
Listened to it on Chirp because it was only $3.99. I have trouble listening to audiobooks but this one was super engaging!
I liked the plot a lot but didn’t like most of the characters. I did not like most the of the main characters and wanted to see more of the less-featured ones. However, the characters I wanted to see more of did become more complex and more of a central focus toward the end. Wish it was like that for more of the book, but I did enjoy the overall story.
I finished this book in a day!! I could not put it doen. One of the main characters is so bad ass! I had to know what she would do next. There some graphic animal violence (one charachter works in an animal shelter and another in a slaughter house). But it wasnt written in a disgusting way, I just think it should be a warning. My God I love this book!
This book kept me in it til the end. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from it, but was impressed. I recommended it to my students, and many checked it out from the library and recommended it to their friends, and that says a lot.
4.5 stars
This was a total surprise for me. I had this audiobook on my library request list, and when it came available I started it without ever reading the blurb. I don’t even know why I added it on my tbr, probably because of the great reviews, but boy this book was GOOD!!!
The Female of the Species was a wonderful read. Even more though since the story touched topics that were tough, brutal but unfortunately a part of our society.
From the very beginning Alex was a kick ass character. She knew how to kill, and had no issues doing what needed to be done. But she also felt like she needed to isolate herself, so she wouldn’t be a danger to others. She had her future pretty much laid out until life threw her a curveball. Meeting Peekay, making new friends, and falling in love with Jack, Alex slowly woke up from her self-inflicted prison. She suddenly realized that there might be other options, like college, family and a boyfriend.
There was certainly a romance between Alex and Jack, but the book was much more than that. The feelings throughout the story were raw and brutal at times. Being typical hormonal teenagers, emotional turmoil was a given. I just loved how all three main characters had so very different POVs and thought processes.
The author did a fantastic job describing the feelings, fears and doubts that played out between Alex, Peekay and Jack. Their distinctive voices were charming in their own ways, as well as engaging and incredibly likable. All three worked through different issues that were essential and fundamentally important and life changing.
I loved everything about The Female of the Species.
Especially the writing, dialogues, and characters. It was incredibly well written, beautifully executed, but OMG the ending!! It killed me!! I didn’t see it coming, and it broke my heart! So, please if you pick up this book, do not read any spoilers, it will ruin the experience. But prepare yourself for heartbreak!
BTW if you liked Sadie, you’ll love The Female of the Species.
Alex Craft is angry about what happened to her sister. Violently angry. Murderously angry. This unflinching thriller from Mindy McGinnis EVISCERATED me in the best possible way.
The main character made me think of the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, as a high-school student. This is dark YA, addressing loss, rape culture, revenge, first love and so much more. It has stayed with me, as the best fiction always does.
This. Book. Is. Brutal. It seems both far-fetched yet all too real; Alex is such a compelling lead character and a paradox at the same time. I would strongly recommend this book for anyone regardless of age or gender. The daughter of a crime scene investigator, I was able to see from Alex’s perspective immediately and even with my background, so much of this novel was frightening. This novel shines a harsh light on our reality and doesn’t shy away from it. Not everyone gets what they deserve and this book exemplifies that – for good and for bad.
Interesting YA Thriller in the vein of I Hunt Killers and My Sister Rosa. If you liked either of those books, this might be a good follow up. Not as good as I Hunt Killers though. I Hunt Killers My Sister Rosa